Mental health is essential for physical health

Our brain is a true wonder. It lets us perceive and understand the shape of the world that is around us. With the help of science, we have begun to chart the brain’s complex structures and each year discoveries are being made.

As the brain is in the center when it comes to human health, maintaining good mental health is essential. Mental disorders affect almost 20 percent of American adults, almost 4 percent are severely impaired and classified as having a serious mental illness.

These disorders are most of the time associated with chronic physical illnesses like diabetes or heart disease. They also increase the risk of injury through accidents and violence.

Many times, individuals suffering from serious mental illnesses have been isolated and cared for outside of traditional health care. Mental health has been separated and is not equal to traditional health care.

Why did this happen? As psychiatry doesn’t show exact data in regards to what is happening to the brain, it has been viewed as a mysterious realm. Even today many powerful and effective psychiatric treatments are not fully understood. So this makes it hard for many people to find help for real, disabling symptoms.

Medicine is always evolving and we have a lot of knowledge now that we can use to our advantage. We reached the step when mental health is being integrated into traditional health care and this means a lot of good news for all people.

It’s good to know that a hospital can address mental health issues as effectively as it treats trauma or cardiac arrest. This shift is taking place nationally and more and more health systems are taking best practices in their hospitals.

Proven treatments related to mental health are bringing more public acceptance towards this type of care. Modern practices have a lot of potentials to improve public health and why not engage families more actively in the care of individuals that suffer from mental disorders and addictions.

Will the stigma of mental illness ever fade? As we understand the human brain better together with the biological nature of the mind progress will be made. Still, this will not be enough. Mental Health needs to be recognized as essential to physical health, not an alien element of it. Only then we will be able to access true, complete, and modern medicine.